Chapter 98 - 34: [Mo’an] (Side Story - , Can Be Skipped)

Chapter 98: Chapter 34: [Mo’an] (Side Story Chapter, Can Be Skipped)

She looked like a sickly, fragile hatchling terrified by the sound of a gunshot.

It was almost eight o’clock now. The spot of sunlight that had been cast through the small window had moved away, leaving only shadows across her face. Sometimes, she would zone out for a long time before lifting her shadow-draped face to ask Xia Mo’an...

"Brother, why do people live?" she asked earnestly. "If you’re in pain from the moment you’re born, and the future holds nothing but more pain, then why..."

"Do you want to watch some anime?" Xia Mo’an asked.

"What?" His younger sister looked up.

"Anime. Are you not watching any series today?" he asked.

"I’ve finished all the ones I like."

"You can always find a few more you’ll enjoy... Are there any anime conventions recently? I can go with you?" He shamelessly leaned in closer, trying to cheer her up.

"I don’t want to go," she said, shaking her head.

"...Do you want to play a game?" Xia Mo’an asked. "I have games on my computer. You can play whatever you want on my Steam account... Just don’t click on that red Ford Mustang icon. I have my privacy too—wait, let me just delete this car first—"

He brought his laptop over and logged into his account, only then realizing that his computer was filled with nothing but hardcore games.

*Turing Complete*, *SHENZHEN I/O*, *Oxygen Not Included*, *Dwarf Fortress*, *Factorio*... Initially, he had picked these games because his father used to fly into a rage every time he caught him playing video games in high school. He had specifically chosen ones with interfaces that looked like educational software. That way, when his parents asked, he could lie and say he was practicing programming for the high school informatics olympiad. But over time, he had unknowingly fallen in love with these difficult, dry games.

However, his sister was clearly not interested in any of them.

"Try this one." He finally dug up a game from his Steam library that didn’t look like engineering software—*Dark Souls*. He had bought it after starting college and had completed five playthroughs with all items collected. He vaguely remembered reading somewhere that *Dark Souls* had cured someone’s depression.

"It’s too hard. I can’t beat it," his sister replied. "It’s useless. No matter what I do, I won’t win. It’s no use."

"Does it matter if you can’t beat it?" Xia Mo’an asked.

"I’ll lose all my money, and I’ll have to run all the way back."

"And then?"

"..."

"If you lose all your money, you can earn it back. If you have to run all the way back, you can just run again. If you fail, you can try again." Xia Mo’an held his sister’s hand and placed it on the mouse. "Many things can defeat you, but nothing can destroy you—unless you give up trying. Give it a try. You can look up a guide if you get stuck." He threw on his jacket and stood up, grabbing his backpack. "I need to get ready for class. Do you want to go out for lunch together today?"

"Not really."

"I’ll pack something from the cafeteria then. What do you want to eat?"

"There’s nothing I want to eat."

"Then I’ll just buy what I like." He left the apartment and headed toward the university.

His morning class didn’t actually start until ten o’clock. Arriving in front of the shadow cast by the Computer Science building, he grabbed a jug of purified water from the first-floor stairwell and, HUFFING AND PUFFING, carried it all the way up to the Computer Association clubroom door on the third floor.

There were many computer labs and laboratories in the building, which were generally locked and only opened during classes or club activities. Because of this, water delivery workers and cleaners weren’t responsible for this building; the students and teachers had to haul their own purified water up. Xia Mo’an was the head of the activities department, and he made a habit of carrying a jug of water upstairs every time he came by—after all, everyone else seemed to think the water would magically fly to the third floor on its own.

Along the way, the students from the association greeted him, calling out, "Brother Anzi," "Brother Xia," or "Good morning, Minister Xia." Unfortunately, the water jug seemed to be invisible, as no one offered to lend a hand. Xia Mo’an responded to their greetings while hauling the heavy jug all the way to the clubroom door on the third floor, where a hand finally reached out to grab it for him.

He looked up to see the chairman of the Computer Association.

"Senior Brother Liang," he said, nodding.

"I’ve got it, Mo’an," the chairman said warmly. "It’s been a long year. You’ve worked hard."

"I only submitted my application yesterday. Do you already know I’m quitting?" Xia Mo’an raised an eyebrow.

"I came to the clubroom today specifically to give you a send-off. They told me you applied to move out of the dorms a few days ago, and your bed is already empty." Chairman Liang gently lifted the water jug and placed it onto the clubroom’s water dispenser. "Life must be pretty busy, huh? Getting a part-time job?"

"Yeah." Xia Mo’an pulled a folder out of his backpack. "These are the activity logs I still had. I forgot to hand them over during last night’s work transition."

"Let’s all have lunch together at noon, Mo’an," Chairman Liang said, taking the folder. "We’ve worked together for a year now, and you’ve always done a great job. If you had the chance, the next chairman of the Computer Association might have been..."

"No, no, I have plans at noon," Xia Mo’an said dryly, waving his hands repeatedly. "I’ll pass, but thank you everyone for the enthusiasm."

"Let’s all thank Mo’an once again for his contributions to the association this past year!" Chairman Liang called out. Everyone in the clubroom stood up and applauded.

Some called out "Minister Xia," while others shouted "Brother Anzi." Amidst the applause, Xia Mo’an fled the Computer Association building as if he were escaping.

"The equivalent circuit model of an R-type transformer is shown in the figure, and the impedance and admittance are respectively..." the old professor droned on from the podium, reading off the PowerPoint slides.

He needed to get a part-time job soon, Xia Mo’an thought distractedly. The rental apartment was in a fairly remote area, and at two thousand a month for rent, his savings could still hold out for a little while. The lighting in the apartment was too dim. The doctor had said that a dim environment wasn’t good for recovery. Maybe he should change the lightbulb?